Sendo X Sync Station

Published: 28 June 2005

The Sendo X desktop cradle is probably the best piece of hardware you've never seen, let alone owned. Stuart takes a look and decides if it is worth hunting down and paying for.

When the Sendo X was released, one of the promised accessories was the Sendo sync station, a desktop cradle, which allows you to charge your phone and transfer data to / from your PC, all in a nice looking desktop stand.

When you unbox the sync stadion, you're immediately struck by the build quality of the device, it\'s made from a tough black plastic, edged with a sturdy metal strip which forms the front and back feet for the cradle. Looking from the front, there's a scalloped out section with data connector where you plug the phone in, then behind that, in a seperate slot is a secondary battery charging pocition. Underneath the cradle, and at the back, are the external sockets for power and USB cable connections. The sockets are designed in such a way that the cables from them neatly trail out the back of the decice, between the back foot and the raised main body of the cradle.

There's no setup needed to use the cradle, just plug in the power and USB cables (not supplied, as you will already have received them with the phone), and then plug the phone into the cradle. The phone's socket feels a bit stiff if you try to push the phone straight down onto it, however, if you lean the phone forward then push it backwards onto the socket, it connects with a satisfying click.

One feature which seems slightly odd is the blue LED towards the back of the charger. Confusingly this is OFF when the phone or battery are charging; FLASHES when almost charged, and ON continuously when the phone / battery is fully charged, or when nothing is connected to the charger. There's nothing wrong with this aproach, other than the fact that the LED is extremely bright. You might need to put a cloth or tape over the LED to dim it slightly if the intensity is too much for you.

For reasons best known to Sendo, it seems to be virtually imposible to buy the Sync Station in the UK. This is a real shame, as it is definitely worth the recommended price. Expansys, who run the official Sendo online shop, don't even list the sync station anymore, however, it is available through some European retailers, and a small stock are usually available from us, via our online store.

Overall, the Sendo sync station is an excellent product which is hard to fault.